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Berkeley residents hire attorney to fight plan to film Snooki on Pelican Island

Video: Snooki to shoot new MTV show on Jersey Shore? Rebuilding residents waryLedger Live for July 17, 2013 - Ledger Live with Brian Donohue. On today's episode residents say that a bay front home owner has alerted his neighbors that he'll be renting his home to MTV and Snooki, bringing deep concern with homeowners still trying to rebuild after Hurricane Sandy. The home is located on Pelican Island in Berkeley Township, near Seaside Heights where the reality tv show Jersey Shore was filmed.

BERKELEY – Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi told her would-be neighbors in Berkeley Township to "grow up, get over yourself and move on," but that didn’t stop them from slamming the reality television star’s desire to film her show in town.

Dozens attended the Berkeley Township council meeting Monday night, and most of those who spoke blasted township officials about the project.

"This is a quiet, friendly island that’s being put on the map for the wrong reasons," resident Sue Kosakowski said. "It’s a disgrace."

A spokesman for MTV said the cable channel does not comment on series in production, but residents and local officials said Polizzi plans to vacation and film in a house in the township’s small Pelican Island neighborhood for the new season of her show, "Snooki and JWoww." The show is a spinoff of "Jersey Shore" that stars Polizzi and Jennifer "JWoww" Farley.

The proposal, however, has drawn the fury of local neighbors, who fear the show will bring a circus-like atmosphere and will threaten the safety of the homes they are rebuilding in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. They have hired a lawyer to represent them.

Township officials said last night they weren’t aware of the details of the filming until last week. Berkeley Township Mayor Carmen Amato said he only knew that a woman and her child would be filming in a home at 515 Sunset Drive South.

Snooki and JWoww in Jersey City for Season 1 of their spinoff. Berkeley Township has introduced an ordinance that could determine whether part of the show's third season is filmed there.MTV

Property tax records list Michael Loundy - the owner of Seaside Realty and the director of community improvements for Seaside Heights – as the owner of the home. Loundy has declined to comment.

R.S. Gasiorowski, the lawyer retained by the homeowners, accused the realtor of not being entirely open about his intentions for the house.

"I think the focus should remain on rebuilding the island and not tearing it apart," said Wade, who said he was not representing the association with his remarks.

Polizzi, MTV officials and executives with the show’s production company, 495 Productions, were not at the meeting.

Instead, Polizzi fired back on social media on Sunday after a story about the controversy appeared on NJ.com, the online home of The Star-Ledger.

"Unable how adults are trying to ban my son, fiancé and I from enjoying our summer at the shore," she wrote to more than 3.6 million followers on Instagram. "Grow up, get over yourself and move on. This is not how we should be treating one another. Absolutely sick and very sad. I pray for you. There’s much bigger things to worry about in life than trying to ban my family from your neighborhood."

By last night, more than 88,000 people liked her post. Polizzi also tweeted her Instagram post to more than 6.3 million Twitter followers.

The show not only wants to film in Berkeley Township, but also in nearby Seaside Heights.

A permit to film at 300 Carteret Ave. in Seaside Heights has been filed, according to borough Business Administrator John Camera. The permit in Seaside Heights lasts from mid-July to the end of the August, Camera has said.

Meanwhile, the Berkeley Township council approved revisions to a “special events” ordinance that includes language about television filming in town. However, Amato said, that vote is a separate matter and only addresses some of the film permit issue.